What Travis Kelce has said about retiring from the NFL
Is he ready to hang up his cleats for good?
Travis Kelce previously teased that he may be retiring from the NFL after competing in Super Bowl 2025.
The Kansas City Chiefs suffered a devastating loss on Sunday, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles 22 to 40.
Find out what the tight end, who was drafted to the league in 2013, has said about leaving the sport.
April 2023
The Kansas City Chiefs star revealed that he “hadn’t put much thought into” retiring.
“I absolutely love what I’m doing, I love doing it here in Kansas City,” he told Bleacher Report in April 2023.
“I don’t even want to think about putting a time limit on this. My body still feels good, I still feel like I can help the Kansas City Chiefs win. On top of that, every single day is a blast coming into the building.”
June 2023
Kelce reiterated his desire to continue playing football at the Chiefs minicamp in June 2023.
“I love this game. I know I’m going to miss it when I’m done playing,” he said.
“I get to play a game for a living at the age of 33, 34 and I think that’s something – you know, I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose that excitement that I had for a game when I was a kid.”
November 2023
Kelce revealed that the possibility of becoming injured prompted him to consider retiring “more than anyone could ever imagine.”
“That’s the only thing I’ve never really been open about,” he told the Wall Street Journal in November 2023.
“The discomfort. The pain. The lingering injuries — the 10 surgeries I’ve had that I still feel every single surgery to this day.”
January 2024
Kelce shared that he wasn’t ready to walk away from the game he loved.
“I have no reason to stop playing football,” he told reporters at a press conference ahead of Super Bowl 2024. “I’ve been fortunate to do a few things outside of the sports world that I’ve been enjoying doing, like getting on camera.”
Kelce said that his “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig “opened up a new happiness and a new career path for me, but it’s funny for me to even say that at this point in my career because I think it’s so much further down the road than it is right now.”
June 2024
Kelce said he wasn’t planning on retiring “anytime soon” and that he “really can’t put a timeframe” on when he would exit the league.
“I’m going to do it until the wheels fall off,” he said in June 2024. “I can definitely understand that it’s toward the end of the road [more] than the beginning of it. I just gotta make sure I’m set up for after football as well.”
December 2024
Kelce hinted at retiring from the NFL by saying he played his “last” game in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, when his team took on the Browns.
“I just love that city, man. It was so fun,” the athlete told his brother, Jason Kelce, on the Dec. 18, 2024, episode of their “New Heights” podcast.
“When we flew in, I felt like a tour guide. I was telling everybody every single city that we were going past, every monument, every building.”
Travis said he has “an appreciation” for how he and Jason grew up in Cleveland and “the fun” that they had.
“It’s so crazy to drive to the stadium [Huntington Bank Field]. I had crazy flashbacks of going to — you know, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is right there on the same block, as well as the Science Center,” he shared.
“Silly memories … were going in and out of my mind. And it felt so surreal. I don’t know if it’s the last time I’ll ever play in Cleveland, but it kinda felt like I was just giving it one last hurrah before I’m done because I’ve only played there twice in 12 years.”
January 2025
Travis shared that Swift has been motivating him to continue his NFL career with the Chiefs.
“She’s fully encouraging me to enjoy playing this game,” he shared on the Jan. 15, 2025, episode of “The Stephen A. Smith Show.”
Travis gushed over the Grammy winner, saying she “loves coming” and “cheering” for him at the Chiefs’ home games at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
On Jan. 21, 2025, Travis’ teammate Patrick Mahomes sent a touching message to the tight end ahead of their AFC Championship game against the Buffalo Bills.
During an interview on 96.5 The Fan, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback shared his thoughts on whether their home game against the Buffalo Bills this weekend would be Travis’ last hurrah at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.
“I have no idea. He hasn’t said anything to me if he’s thinking that,” Mahomes replied.
“I know he signed a two-year extension before the season, it seems like he still loves football. But he also has a great life, as well,” he added, referring to the $34.25 million contract the game show host signed with the Chiefs in April 2024.
The dad of three said that regardless of whether Kelce decides to retire or not, he is happy to be playing with him.
“Either way, I just appreciate every time I step onto the field with that guy knowing that he’s a true legend of not only the Chiefs, but of the NFL,” Mahomes gushed.
February 2025
During a Super Bowl presser on Feb. 3, 2025, Travis was asked where he plans to be in three years.
“Hopefully still playing football. I love doing this, I love coming into work every day. I feel like I still have a lot of good football left in me. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
“I know I’ve been setting myself up for other opportunities in my life. That’s always been the goal knowing football only lasts for so long. You have to find a way to get into another career and another profession. I’ve been doing that in my offseason. But for the most part, I plan on being a Kansas City Chief and playing football.”
